Stevie Nicks Once Exposed the Real Reason John and Christine McVie Divorced

Stevie Nicks once revealed why Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie and bassist John McVie divorced. Here’s what McVie had to say about the split and how it differs from Nicks’ version of events.

Christine McVie was in a band before she joined Fleetwood Mac with John McVie

Most Fleetwood Mac fans are familiar with the love story of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, who joined the band together on New Year’s Eve in 1974. The former couple suffered a bitter breakup amid the band’s success, and their split inspired many of Fleetwood Mac’s greatest hits.

But not as many know John and Christine McVie’s love story, as it wasn’t as sensationalized in the media as Nicks and Buckingham. Christine was in a band called Chicken Shack before she met John. The group often played with Fleetwood Mac, which was how she met the bassist. Christine married John in 1968 and left Chicken Shack in 1969. One year later, she joined Fleetwood Mac. 

The former couple divorced in 1976 while Fleetwood Mac was touring, which Christine admitted was “irresponsible.” “I broke up with John in the middle of a tour. I was aware of it being rather irresponsible,” Christine told Rolling Stone in March 1977. “I had to do it for my sanity. It was either that or me ending up in a lunatic asylum.”

Stevie Nicks once revealed why Christine McVie and John McVie broke up

Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks formed a powerful bond as the only long-standing female members of Fleetwood Mac. They shared many similar experiences, such as having serious relationships with their bandmates. 

Nicks once opened up about why Christine and John McVie got divorced, and her words shed some light on why the keyboardist wanted out of the relationship in the middle of a tour. 

“John drinks too much. And that’s why Chris and John aren’t together. Period,” Nicks told Rolling Stone in October 1997. “And John knows that he needs to quit, but you know none of us are going to go over there and nail him to the wall.”

She added, “So hopefully it will all be OK. You know, I pray every day, ‘Please, God, just take care of John.’”

The Fleetwood Mac keyboardist shared a slightly different version of events

Christine McVie also contributed to the 1997 Rolling Stone interview in which Stevie Nicks said she and John McVie divorced because of his drinking. But the keyboardist shared a slightly different version of events, although she admitted alcohol was a problem in the relationship.

But overall, she seemingly blamed spending too much time together as the main reason that she and John broke up. She even said they “might still be together” if she had never joined Fleetwood Mac.

“I dare say, if I hadn’t joined Fleetwood Mac, we might still be together,” Christine shared. “I just think it’s impossible to work in the band with your spouse. Imagine the tension of living with someone 24 hours a day, on the road, in an already stressful situation, with the added negativity of too much alcohol. It just blew apart.”

She shared a similar sentiment in a July 1984 interview with Rolling Stone. “We just reached a point where we couldn’t be in the same room together,” Christine said of her relationship with John. “We’d probably spent more time with one another than most couples who have lived together for twenty-five years. We had no individuality, no separation.

How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.